The Philadelphia 76ers earned their 40th victory of the season Wednesday night, defeating the Memphis Grizzlies 119-105 in the Wells Fargo Center.
The Philadelphia 76ers were fueled by a balanced scoring attack. All five starters, along with reserve Marco Belinelli, scored between 13 and 15 points. Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid led the team with seven rebounds a piece, while Simmons contributed nine assists.
Guard Dillon Brooks and forward JaMychal Green each scored 14 points for the tanking Grizzlies. Star center Marc Gasol struggled to a 5 point, 6 rebound performance in which he converted on just 2 of his 8 field goal attempts.
The Memphis defense struggled to defend Philadelphia’s unselfish offense. Simmons pushed in transition and probed in the halfcourt until he found an open teammate for a layup or three. With all five players moving in harmony, the Sixers swung the ball from side to side until they found an open three or layup. Aside from a few contested post fadeaways by Embiid, the Sixers shot selection was pristine.
The Sixers were leading by just nine with 6.2 seconds remaining in the first half when Memphis guard Dillon Brooks committed a flagrant foul on Embiid as the Process attacked the rim. After Embiid drained both free throws, J.J. Redick hit a three pointer at the buzzer, increasing the halftime lead to 14.
The Sixers shrugged off baskets by Gasol and Brooks to begin the third quarter and rattled off a 14-2 run, pushing the lead to 77-53.
From there, dunks by Simmons and Covington and a Saric three pointer pushed the Grizzlies’ deficit to 30. The Sixers led 99-69 after three quarters.
With the victory all but guaranteed, the starters enjoyed valuable rest ahead of tomorrow’s contest at Orlando. Each of the Sixers’ top five players watched from the bench for the game’s final 15 minutes. Brown has to be pleased with a blowout win in which Embiid played just 20 minutes.
The nature of the scoreboard allowed Brown to grant Richaun Holmes some rare playing time. He expressed his anger by nearly making Deyonta Davis go viral on a drive to the rim. He atoned for the miss by finishing three additional slams in the fourth quarter.
The Sixers are now 40-30 with the league’s easiest remaining schedule on deck. After a matchup with the Magic on Thursday night, they will return to the Wells Fargo Center to play the Nuggets and Timberwolves, two teams actually attempting to win games.
Next: Dario Saric is a championship-caliber piece
Every win is paramount as the Sixers battle the Cavaliers, Wizards, and Pacers for home court advantage in the Eastern Conference first round.